May 24, 2006
Transit Strike Casualty Finally Goes Home
Matthew Long, the man who was seriously injured during last December's transit strike (a private bus hit him as he biked to the stationhouse), has finally been released from the hospital. He's had 15 operations in the past five months and was only given a 1% chance of surviving: A doctor said, "He should be dead. Even the nurses in the ER thought what we were doing was an act in futility.". Long now spends most of his time using a wheelchair, though he's been walking with crutches; Long used to compete in triathlons. Long is suing the Transport Workers Union as well as Bear Stearns (which chartered the private bus) and the private bus company.
And in other strike news, the arbitration panel is in place to hear the MTA's and TWU's case. The members are: George Nicolau, who had arbitrated MLB cases' Gary Dellaverson, the MTA's labor relations director who we remember from the transit strike; and Basil Paterson, a transit rep who is a lawyer in a Long Island firm (which happens to be where Tom Suozzi's dad works!).
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You'd think he would use this to rally bicycling causes in the city.
but no, he's suing everyone.
how many firemen bike to work? that in and of itself is a story.
Well, he biked to work because of the strike.
I can't wait to see who the arbitration panel sides with. I guess we'll really find out who the bad guy was in the whole thing.
They really should have charged Roger Toussant with attempted murder. If there was no illegal strike, he would not have gotten hit by a bus.
RT is innocent.
cause of injury, mva cause by a bus.
look it up, it's on the police report.
no cause of injury by strike.
bikers get hit by motor vehicles everyday, day in day out.
what makes this guy special????????????
Actually, he apparently biked to work on other occasions, and not just during the strike.
I think it's quite silly that he's suing the TWA, if you agree with the strike or not, because it sends a bad message -- that biking is something to be avoided and only undertaken if one is forced to. I bike to work everyday, and if somebody hit me, I'd sue the person who actually hit me, not somebody totally unconnected with the situation. What next, can I sue the the butterfly in Japan that flapped its wings, causing a chain of events that resulted me in tripping on the sidewalk today in NYC?
Actually, bicyclists should probably sue the DoT.
Bicyclists should sue the DOT cause they should clear the fucking double parked cars in the bike lanes. How about ticketing those motherfuckers????
I was glad to have a scooter to commute on during the strike, but at least bicyclists have designated lanes and parking! We don't.
MT, we won't find out who the "bad guy" was from arbitration. First, it is simply to come up with a contract, and arbitrators usually split the baby which means the TWU will end up worse off than the contract they rejected. Second, the arbitrator will make no such judgement. And third, and most significantly, we already know who the "bad guy" is, and that is Toussaint. He illegally and selfishly struck during the Christmas holiday, causing this guy's injury and thousands of dollars in hardship to consumers and small business, alienating the public from his cause, going to jail, incurring big fines, losing the right to get dues automatically subtracted from member paychecks, and failing to get the resulting contract approved.
The MTA stinks too, but Toussaint could not have been worse.
I'm sure he's suing everyone because he desperately needs the money. Unless he especially opted for massive disability insurance (assuming he had the option to BUY insurance).
I’m sure we’ll find out who’s to blame at the end of the case, but unless he wants to join the other people in chairs & crutches begging for your spare change, he’s gotta try!
Some people benefited from the strike. Should the TWU be able to sue to get a piece of that?
He is part owner in three bars, Third and Long, Turle Bay and MJ Armstrong's, but I am sure he still has millions in medical bills after 5 months in the hospital and 15 surgeries. His dad was and may still be head of the NYS conservative party, which may figure in some of this. It does seem like blame would lie with those directly invovled in the accident. If lose my job and have to bike around town due to poverty, can I sue my former empolyer?